Not Even Princess
by Okami no hanyou
Summary: She knew it was wrong, but it was all Tohru's fault. If Tohru hadn't gotten sick, she wouldn't have brought her her homework. If Tohru hadn't gotten sick, she wouldn't have ever learned the secret. If Tohru hadn't of gotten sick, she wouldn't have fallen
1. Default Chapter

_**Not Even Princess **_

Okami no Hanyou

Summary: She knew she couldn't blame her, but it was all Tohru's fault. If Tohru hadn't gotten sick, she wouldn't have brought her homework to her. If Tohru hadn't been sick, she wouldn't have learned the secret. If Tohru hadn't gotten sick, she wouldn't be in love with a prince. H/Y

A/N: Hello new readers and possible fans of mine from my Inuyasha fics! Yes, I should be updating those, but I kind of needed to get this up. Review if you want, flame if you feel like it. All's good! Meow! Neways, I hope you read on, and ignore my rambles. By the way... Idon'townfruitsbasket!

Hanajima stared lazily out the window. She didn't feel like learning today, not when her dear friend Tohru was out sick. No, that would just be hellish. Not many people were paying much attention anyway, it was far too warm to listen to the droning teacher. Students were whispering to each other, giggling at the teacher, or sleeping with their arms folded on their desks.

The air was thick, making the atmosphere tiring. Small beads of sweat dripped down Hana's neck under her darkly colored uniform. With an annoyed sigh, she pushed a lock of black hair that had escaped her braid behind one of her ears. Hana blinked her dark eyes in order to wake herself up, and resisted an urge to yawn.

_When was math really going to help her anyway?_

She knew Tohru was sick, she had talked to the ailing girl just last night. She had coughed, sounded congested, and sniffed a number of times during their conversation. But why weren't the Sohma boys here either? Possibly they had caught what Tohru had, but she doubted it, they rarely were out due to sickness. Maybe they were so pathetic they couldn't get through the day without a Tohru made breakfast. Maybe they were taking care of her, Hana didn't know. She glanced at the clock. It was nearly time to go. She went back to gazing out the window until the voice of her teacher pulled her out of her dazed stupor.

" Miss Tohru Honda, Kyo and Yuki Sohma are not here today. Who will take them their homework?" Every single girl in the class raised their hand eagerly, looking giddy with hope.. They could have cared less about Tohru, it was Yuki they cared about. Fantasies of helping to heal the obviously pained Yuki and becoming his savior flitted across their minds. Hana crushed their hope however, when she stood up and spoke.

"I've visited Tohru many a times, and I am her good friend. I wouldn't mind taking them their homework, their home is on the way to my house." She stated. The teacher nodded, and handed her a pile of papers, and a loud ring of sobs racked the female populace in the class. Hana sat back down and glanced to Uo, who shrugged and mouthed 'I gotta go home'. Hana sighed, she would be lonely. The bell rang and she silently picked up her bag, ignoring the waves of loathing directed at her, and glided smoothly out of the door.

Hana plodded down the road, slightly panting due to the heat. Her hair was slightly plastered to her head, and sweat was dripping down her face. She wiped it away in annoyance. She almost moaned in pleasure when she got to the woods and the trees offered her their blissful shade. She leaned on to a tree, and laid her head against the rough bark. It was so hot! It must have been over a hundred degree's! Hana slid to the ground. She was tired, and she missed the classroom, rather the air conditioning IN the classroom. She wiped the sweat off of her face once more, and struggled to her feet.

Hana walked on, trying to ignore the heat. She wondered vaguely if the reason the Sohma boys hadn't been in school was that they were susceptible to major heat. She shrugged it off. She had to be close now, and she'd ask for a cold beverage when she got there in exchange for the homework.

When the house came into view, she nearly grinned. Nearly. She stalked silently up to it, and she heard voices. She crept next to the door and listened.

"_Really Tohru, I'm fine now."_ A man's voice chirped

"_But Ayame, this weather is really warm, and you most of all are susceptible to things like this..." _Tohru said worriedly.

"_My dear! If I live in fear of our curse every day, I'd be stiff and boorish! And the world NEEDS my absolute charisma!" _the man known as Ayame said cheerfully.

Curse? What curse? Tohru obviously knew about it, but what happened with this curse? She resisted the urge to walk in there and find out, but she decided to just listen more.

"_Why do you care so much about this stupid snake anyways Tohru? If he changes he'll just crawl up your skirt!"_ Another person she knew, Kyo, shrieked.

"_Really Kyo, you're so cruel! I did that for protection against this horrid weather!" _The man Ayame said in a pouting voice.

She heard someone sigh,_"Are you going to leave or not Ayame?"_ Shigure, at least that was what she thought his name was asked.

"_I don't know my dear Shigure. What do YOU want?_" The man asked in a slightly seductive voice. Hana raised her eyebrow. She didn't want to know.

"_I want to go get the newspaper, I haven't had the chance to from the surprise of your arrival."_ Before Hana could think to get off the porch, the sliding door opened, and Shigure walked into her arms.

POOF!

Hana sneezed and she felt a slight weight in her arms. She blinked the sweat out of her eyes, and she realized, she was holding a dog. Everyone in the room was staring at her with wide eyes. She stared back until the dog spoke in Shigure's voice.

"Would you mind putting me down? Not that I mind being held by such a pretty young girl, but this position is rather uncomfortable."

"Oh, of course." Hana said as she placed him carefully on the ground. She looked back at the occupants in the room. Kyo seemed to glare at her.

"Leave it to the wave freak to mess things up!" Kyo yelled. She shrugged, and Tohru sneezed.

"She didn't do anything Kyo kun! If she doesn't tell anybody..." Tohru said softly.

"Yes. We'll have to make a meeting with Akito to talk about it. Miss Hanajima, you must keep this a secret at all costs." The dog told her. That she decided was a gimmick, but she was still curious. Yuki must have noticed this, for he began to explain.

"You see, certain members of the Sohma family are possessed by the spirits of the zodiac. I am the rat, Shigure is the dog, obviously. Ayame over there is the snake, and Kyo is the cat." Hana nodded before Yuki continued. "When a person of the opposite gender hugs us, we turn into our respective animals. There's more of us, for each animal, but not all of us are here." Yuki finished.

"Who is this Akito, if I'm allowed to ask?" Yuki went silent, and Ayame jumped in.

"He's the head of the family. He's always sick, and he's so stiff! But anyways, we were never properly introduced, my name is-"

POOF!

Hana turned her head towards the poofing, and lo and behold, there was a naked Shigure. She turned pink and covered her eyes with her hands. She heard a squeak from Tohru, and expected she saw him too. A few moments later, she felt a tapping on her shoulder, and Ayame spoke softly in her ear, "Coast's clear."

Hana opened her eyes, to see Tohru blushing madly. She glanced back at Ayame, who was grinning.

"Lets go see about meeting with Akito shall we?" Hana nodded hesitantly, and sat next to Tohru. Ayame skittered out of the room. "How long did you know about this Tohru?"

"Since I started living here... I'm so sorry I didn't tell you Hana chan! I just wasn't allowed to and-" Hana cut her off.

"It's okay Tohru, I don't mind."Tohru sighed with relief before sneezing, and Ayame ran back into the room with Shigure.

"Akito wants to see you now Hana. Don't worry, Ayame and I will escort you. Kyo and Yuki will watch over Tohru while we're gone, so no worries! Come come!" He began to usher her out the door, but Hana turned and gave a stack of paper to Kyo.

"Here's your homework."

A/N: You like? You hate? Review and tell me! Yes, make me happy please! But if you do flame, I don't mind. They keep the water heater running... . By the way, sorry the end is kinda rushed... Yeah, no real excuse cept that I can't figure what to do with it.


	2. Chapter 2

Not Even Princess

Chap 2

* * *

Hanajima gazed blankly out of the window. How the _hell _had she gotten herself into this mess? The cool air the AC offered was refreshing, but gave her no answers to he problems. Which brought her to her next question,Why was she in a car with complete strangers? Granted, Shigure wasn't really a stranger. She had met him a few times before, in brief visits and odd sightings. Still, hadn't her mother always told her not to talk to strangers, much less get in the damn car with them? Shigure might not be quite the stranger status with her, but Ayame was definately new. She didn't even know Shigure, he could be a sick twisted maniacal freak taking her to her doom. 

And she would never know.

She just sighed. It was pointless worrying about that anyway. The real question was, what the _hell _happened in that house? Sure, they had given her a brief explanation about the curse and what not, but she didn't understand it. Why were they cursed anyways? Why did they all seem to fall at every need of this Akito man? Was he evil? The look Tohru had given her while she was leaving was one full of sympathy. **Why **was everyone being like this? It seemed she was bursting with questions and had no way of getting answers, the two men in the drivers and passenger's seat seemed firm on that.

After what seemed an eternity of her sitting in the car screaming questions in her mind, they reached a sort of estate. It was large, and was in the style of a traditional japanese home. The car came to a stop and Shigure stepped out of the car, Ayame in tow. Assuming this was when she was supposed to get out too, she opened the door and hopped out.

Damn she hated being short.

Shigure and Ayame chittered together, talking about something or another, and gestured to another. Hana thought dully about hosts supposing to be warm and kind to their guests. She supposed she had been spoiled by the kindness of Tohru. She really needed to get out more.

Suddenly the two men in front of her came to a stop in front of a sliding wood door. They smiled grimly at her, as if she was about to endure some painful, heartwrenching task. Both expressions held large amount of pity, and Shigure put a hand on her shoulder.

"Be strong girl. The person in this room is...different. Be careful." He struggled to find the right words. "I wish you luck." Hana wanted to scream at him, _"Luck with WHAT?"_ But her opened the door and pushed her in and gave her a small thumbs up.

She glanced ahead of her. She saw a man in a doctors coat sitting silently in the corner, staring at her. To his far left someone lay in a kimono, also staring at her with dark and haunted eyes. The stare alarmed her. The thought flashed through her mind, and she was ashamed. She drew herself to her full height and stared back in her own silence. The two people were locked in a deep stare, glares almost read on their respective faces before the man in the corner spoke.

"You are Hanajima Saki, am I correct? My name is Hatori." The man said in a deep voice. Hana simply nodded. She was never one for unneeded speaking. The man laying down coughed, the spoke in a soft, threatening voice.

"Why are you here? You should just have your memory erased and be done with it. It's all that Tohru wenches fault, it's all because of that little ugly bitch. Hatori take-"

A sharp bolt of anger flared through Hana, and she sent out an electric wave at theyelling man. He let out a yelp of surprise. The wave hadn't been meant for pain, just to reprimand him. He glared at her in such a rage that, if she had been anyone else, she would have quailed under his white hot stare. She held his eyes with her usual aloof and slightly blank expression, only with defiance shining in her eyes. Nobody talked like that about Tohru.

Nobody.

The man, Akito, staggered up and staggered towards her, hatred in his eyes. "You bitch! You horrible bitch! How dare you even do tha? Do you know who I am? DO YOU? I could have your entire memory erased in a mere second! You're useless, a lonely disgusting doll!" He towered over her, his thin frame trembling with anger, his face holding the expression of a deranged madman.

"Your words mean nothing to me." Hana told him bluntly. His eyes widened, his teeth bared and he raised his hand to strike her. Before he could begin to, Hatori came behind him and grabbed his arm, staring into the eyes that just turned to meet his. Akito took a long breath and returned, shuffling to his original position. Hana let her breath go; she hadn't even realized she had been holding it. Akito was staring at her again. He seemed calmer, though the anger was still prominant in his dark eyes.

"So you know the curse. What's stopping me from simply erasing you're memory right here and now?"

"I wouldn't let you." Hana stated in a quick manner. Akito's face was graced by a scowl.

"How, praytell, would a worthless little wench like you do that?" Hana slightly narrowed her eyes and sent another reprimanding bolt to the man in front of her, slightly more powerful than the last. Akito's eyes widened again. He clenched his hand.

"You may know the secret.. For now. But soon, you'll come begging to me, screaming, 'Make me forget! Make me forget this madness!' They all do in the end!" She shot her an evil grin before turning to Hatori.

"Show the woman out. Get it out of my sight." He turned away from both of them and gazed out of the window. Hatori rose and gestured to the door, which Hana hurried towards. Shigure and Ayame were waiting for her down the hall.

"Haa San! How did it go, will she not know anything anymore, or will she be burdened with the heavy weight of out alarming secret?" Ayame shrieked as he ran towards them. Shigure just cocked his head to the side in curiosity.

"What happened?" Shigure asked with a slight note of fascination.

"She is allowed to keep her memory, for the time being." Hana stood there dully, not adding any input to the conversation that was centered around her, her mind still lingering on what had happened mere moments before. She jerked out of her reverie when Hatori spoke to her.

"You must not tell anyone at all, or I will erase your memories. Even if you use those charming little waves against me." She saw Ayame's and Shigure's jaw drop, questions floating in their eyes. Hana smiled inside her head. _Let them be confused for once._ Hatori continued talking. "You will have to walk home, I need to talk to these two. Do you know the way?"

* * *

After assuring she could find her way home and she would tell nobody, she hurried out of the estate. She walked down the street and around a few corners before she let out a large sigh and leaned against the wall, the heat not even beginning to bother her. For the first time in her life, Hana had been afraid.

She was absolutely terrified at the thought of Akito Sohma.

* * *

A/N:...I have been dead for so long. I AM SO SORRY! I really am. My inspiration for everything died, I had no access to the internet or computers in general, and I've been super busy with midterms, test, costumes, and standing strong against the taunts of being my schools cat girl. In short, I've been too stressed and busy to even think about writing. But, I should be able to get back in the swing of things now. On the weekends I have a working computer, and I can use the wonder of floppies to hopefull update during the week if I'm not too swamped. 

I'm sorry it's so short, I was just kind of writing as the words came out of me. It's over a thousand words tho, so I hope you enjoy. Review if you have the time!

BTW, sorry if Grammar and spelling sucks, my new comp doesn't have spell checker.


End file.
